Irvington woman dies after being tied up during home invasion

View full sizeStar-Ledger file photoA 55-year-old Irvington woman died after being tied up in what officials call a "drug-related robbery" at her home.

IRVINGTON — When Debora Lewis arrived home last Tuesday, her son, Kevin, was tied up and strange men were rummaging through her Irvington apartment. Kevin Lewis told his mother to remain calm, but the men "grabbed her and took her to a bedroom and tied her up," Lewis’ cousin Rhonda Carpenter said.

When the men finally left the Grove Street dwelling, Carpenter said, Kevin untied himself and rushed to check on his mother, Carpenter said. The 55-year-old woman was not breathing and was later pronounced dead.

According to the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, Lewis died of asphyxia during the course of a crime she apparently had nothing to do with. Carpenter said Lewis suffered from asthma, but authorities would not say if that contributed to her death.

The assailants were after Lewis’ son and a large stash of money he apparently had inside the apartment, according to three law enforcement officials with knowledge of the investigation. The sources, who described the crime as a "drug-related robbery," spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case.

The assailants remain at large.

"I know drugs is drugs and money is money … but city people are different than country people about their drugs," Carpenter said. "They don’t leave no witnesses. So for my cousin to be dead, and her son to be alive, something doesn’t add up."

Carpenter, who lives in North Carolina, said she was given a description of the attack by Debora Lewis’ mother, who spoke with Kevin Lewis shortly after the incident. The prosecutor’s office declined to comment on Carpenter’s description of the incident.

Attempts to contact Kevin Lewis were unsuccessful.

Ambrose and Irvington Police Director Joseph Santiago said investigators do not believe Debora Lewis was the target of the robbery and may have been an innocent victim.

"This is a terrible crime and we’re going to undertake every effort to bring the parties to justice," Santiago said. "The location was targeted, this is not a random crime."

This isn’t the first time a crime has led to tragedy in the Lewis family. Debora’s younger brother Daniel was shot and killed in 2009 when a 21-year-old allegedly tried to rob his Newark grocery store.

Carpenter remembered her cousin as a likable person who always voiced her opinions.

"She shot from the hip. If she didn’t like something you did, she let you know," Carpenter said. "If she couldn’t do something good for you, she wouldn’t do nothing at all."

Kevin had only been living with Debora for about two weeks before her death, said Lewis’ landlord James Jordan. On the morning her body was found, Kevin Lewis apparently told Jordan there was a break-in, but didn’t mention anything about his mother’s death.

"She was a loving person," Carpenter said. "This drama came to her. It had nothing to do with her."